Bible Strands
Hebrews 11:38
The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author addresses Jewish Christians tempted to abandon their faith under persecution. He speaks immediately after listing their physical mistreatment to describe their final historical condition.
The words — The Greek ἄξιος (axios) means "worthy," anchoring the declaration that the world was not worthy of them. The preposition ἐπὶ (epi) with ἐρημίαις (erēmiais) specifies they wandered upon deserts rather than through them.
The thread — Their flight to deserts and caves matches Obadiah hiding prophets from Jezebel (1 Kings 18:4), David taking refuge in the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1), and Elijah spending the night in a cave (1 Kings 19:9). The text places these figures in the same category of persecuted believers who did not receive the promised fulfillment (Hebrews 11:39).
Why it lands — The verse states that faithful endurance frequently occurs outside societal validation and institutional safety. It requires the reader to accept that divine commendation operates independently of worldly recognition or immediate reward.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 18:4 for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
- 1 Samuel 22:1 So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.
- 1 Kings 19:9 There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
- Isaiah 57:1 The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous are taken away from the presence of evil.
- 1 Samuel 24:1 After Saul had returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.”
- 1 Samuel 26:1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?”
- 1 Kings 14:12 As for you, get up and go home. When your feet enter the city, the child will die.
- 1 Kings 17:3 “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan.
- 1 Kings 18:13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD, fifty men per cave, and I provided them with food and water.
- Psalms 142:1 A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer. I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.